Murray showed inconsistency yesterday, which could reflect emotional tension,
but great athletes can transcend failure

A pressure cooker would be light relief for Andy Murray after yesterday’s match.

With England knocked out of the World Cup, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the Royal Box and the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders, Murray struggled to cope with the weight of expectations.

The Wimbledon Champion was expected to beat Grigor Dimitrov, the world number 13, but was heard shouting“five minutes before the f------ match” when he was 4-2 down in the third set, which gave the impression of an incident before he came on court.

And his inconsistent play showed signs of distraction, according to cognitive neuroscientist and psychologist Ian Robertson, which would support the theory that Murray was dealing with emotional tension.

“He made a number of uncharacteristic errors. It wasn’t as though there was some major stroke of his that he needs to work on and perfect, that’s been done already. There’s an inconsistency in the production of strokes and in neuropsychology, that’s a sign that attention is not perfect,” he explains.

Prof Robertson says that becoming master of the mind is “the most critical variable” for great athletes like Murray, and unresolved conflict can be a “huge magnetism” that would make it difficult for the brain to perform at peak level.

“If he had had some kind of emotional incident or some kind of conflict five minutes before the match, then it’s going to be much more difficult for to be on top form and for attention to be focused on where it needs to be,” he adds.

What else would have stopped Murray?

Winning the championship

Murray’s success last year would also be “a huge monkey on his back” and would have dragged on his performance, says Prof Robertson. Whereas before Wimbledon, every win might provide a sense of progress, this year Murray was comparing himself to winning the championship in 2013, so it would be harder to have a sense of achievement. “He hadn’t had that energy impulse over the last nine months and that plays out in the brain,” he explains.

Choking

The much-feared sporting phenomenon of choking may have also played a part in Murray’s loss yesterday. When you succeed or expect to succeed, the brain secretes dopamine. And when a player chokes, seeming to lose control of his game, it can mean that the brain has released to much dopamine in response to the intense focus on success. “If you want it too much, if the pressure is too great, then that activity can go beyond optimal peak and can interfere with the orchestrated functioning of the brain that needs to function to precisely and in such a beautifully synchronised way for such high-level sport,” says Prof Robertson.

Public Pressure

The future King and Queen of England watching Murray play would have been the “crowning point” of public expectation and pressure. Prof Robertson says that mass idolisation, or high status people desperately wanting him to win, would be an added burden. “The top athlete can control his or her mind and he has to forget they’re there,” he explains.

But you can’t achieve success without hitting a few troughs, so here’s how to pick yourself up...

Cheer up Murray: how to move on from failure

The morning after Murray was knocked out of the Wimbledon championship, he has to come to turns with losing that precious trophy. To help him cope with the failure, here are a few tips on how to move on from physiologist Dr Nerina Ramlakhan.

Stay Calm

To cope with failure and move on to success, you have to learn to regulate your emotions. Dr Ramlakhan recommends breathing techniques, meditation and yoga as “power tools” to stay calm, but says that practice off the court will improve performance in the game. “When you’re playing a game and you’ve got the eyes of the world on you, you’re not going to be thinking, ‘What’s that mindfulness technique?’ It needs to become an unconscious competence.”

Turn off the negative voices

When you’re in a stressful situation, the part of the brain that handles stress—the flight of fight response—can disconnect you from logic. “You might start to listen more to that negative self talk,” explains Dr Ramlakhan. “A lot of athletes have got to their level of achievement because they’re perfectionists, they’re very hard on themselves. But one has to learn how to turn the volume down on that voice."

Eat well

"Don’t fall into a self-pity slump of not looking after yourself but make sure to eat properly," says Dr Ramlakhan. Nutrition can affect levels of adrenaline, well-being hormones like serotonin and oxytocin, and melatonin to help you sleep. Murray must make sure to keep his body in a perfect state of balance.

Disconnect

The day after a major loss, athletes are allowed a blow out, says Dr Ramlakhan. Whether you dance at a party, watch a film, or play a game, it’s important to switch your mind off. “A lot of athletes have an element of introversion so it may well be that he needs to take some time out and reflect on the game,” she adds.

Grieve

Murray should give himself time to mull over his loss or beat himself up, if that’s his tendency. “He may need some time to be quiet and grieve a bit,” says Dr Ramlakhan. “Do whatever he needs to do to come to terms with what’s happened and disconnect it. Have a cry if you need to, talk to somebody about it, then pick yourself up and move on.”

Visualise success

Top athletes need to strengthen their cognitive muscles, and must focus on re-building confidence by visualising success, instead of focusing on failure, says Dr Ramlakhan. Thinking about mistakes—even in an effort to avoid them—will only make the problem worse. For example, if you’re told not to think about pink elephants, you’ll most likely pink elephants. Similarly, worrying about past mistakes can embed those habits in the brain. “You create synaptic pathways that visualise that more clearly, so you’re going to go back and do the same thing again,” explains Dr Ramlakhan. “You need to replace those neurological connections with ones that are stronger: visualise what you do want, what did go well, and do that over and over again.”

The good news is that failure can be an excellent teacher, and could be the path to future success for Murray.

"You have to approach it as a source of learning rather than as a blot on yourself," says Prof Robertson, "I think he’s a sophisticated enough person that – assuming things are going OK in his life more generally - he will be able to overcome this."

You may have lost this time, Murray, but the Wimbledon title will be waiting to be reclaimed. There's always next year.